Here's The Latest Data On India's Income Tax Heroes And Zeroes

In its bid for transparency, the Modi government is leaving no stone unturned. The Income Tax Department released time-series data relating to direct tax collections, number of taxpayers, cost of collection etc. a few months ago—for those of us who are interested in income tax data, this information made for enthralling reading!

In continuation of the efforts to place more and more information in the public domain, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on 26 October further released data relating to the distribution of income and tax payable with respect to returns filed for assessment years 2013-14 and 2014-15.

The data contains details of income tax returns and tax collections of individuals, HUFs, firms, AOP/BOI and companies, divided into various categories of income tax, such as salary income, house property income, business Income, capital gains etc.

The highlights of the income tax data for assessment year (AY) 2014-15 are as follows.

Tax2win

The big picture

A total of 3,91,28,247 income tax returns were filed for AY 2014-15 with a total tax collection of ₹4,46,719 crores.

Out of the total returns filed, 93.3% of returns were filed by individuals; however, they contribute only 42.8% of the taxes. On the other hand, the percentage of company returns is 1.8% of the total returns while they contribute 50.7% of the taxes.

Salary income (₹9,79,910 crore) and business income (₹1,31,9484 crore) contributed the lion's share out of all the sources of income.

Individual taxpayers

1,98,000 individuals filed their returns with 0 income.

24,40,903 individuals declared income of more than ₹10 lakhs.

7 individuals filed returns of more than ₹500 crores.

2 individuals declared salary of more than ₹100 crores.

Company taxpayers

3,49,176 companies filed their returns with 0 income.

1,09,682 companies declared income of more than ₹10 lakhs.

175 companies filed returns of more than ₹500 crores.

The CBDT has really been on its toes for the last few years. The public release of income tax data is a big step towards transparency and informed policy making. You can find the Income Tax Data released by Income Tax Department at www. incometaxindia.gov.in